Drunk Driver Sentenced to 25 Years After Fort Worth Police Officer Knocked Off Overpass, Fell 25 Feet
FORT WORTH, Texas - A 27-year-old man has been sentenced to 25 years in prison for a drunken-driving crash that sent a Fort Worth police officer falling approximately 25 feet from a highway overpass, leaving him with a traumatic brain injury and multiple broken bones.
Wilson Alberto Guevara-Mejia pleaded guilty Oct. 2, 2026, to intoxication assault causing serious bodily injury to a police officer. He was taken into custody immediately after the sentence was announced, according to the Tarrant County District Attorney's Office.
The crash occurred Feb. 11, 2023, while Fort Worth Police Officer Jose R. Rivera and another officer were assisting a stranded motorist on the Interstate 820 ramp leading to Interstate 35W.
A food truck had become stranded on the ramp, and two other vehicles had stopped behind Rivera's patrol car.
As Rivera assisted at the scene, Guevara-Mejia approached at high speed and failed to stop.
With little room to escape, Rivera attempted to save himself by clinging to the side of the overpass. The resulting collision caused vehicles to strike him, sending him approximately 25 feet down into a concrete drainage area below.
Rivera suffered extensive injuries, including a traumatic brain injury, fractured pelvis, shattered elbow, broken wrists, broken clavicle and multiple fractured ribs.
He underwent several surgeries, and doctors warned that he might never return to police work.
Despite the severity of his injuries, Rivera spent the next two and a half years recovering and rehabilitating. With support from his family and fellow officers, he eventually returned to duty with the Fort Worth Police Department.
According to records from the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement, Rivera has served with the department since December 2020.
Investigators determined that Guevara-Mejia had consumed eight or nine beers and a shot of tequila before driving.
His blood alcohol concentration was measured at 0.213%, more than two and a half times Texas' legal driving limit of 0.08%.
Prosecutors Melinda Hogan and Madeline Jones handled the case for the Tarrant County District Attorney's Office.
District Attorney Phil Sorrells recognized the Fort Worth Police Department and Officers De La Rosa and Nguyen for their efforts to help save Rivera following the crash.
“We stand firmly with the officers who put their lives on the line to protect our community,” Sorrells said. “My office is proud to have helped secure justice for Officer Rivera.”
